Sunpelt's Path
by anakmanga
Summary: Sunpelt, one of AquaClan's greatest warriors, faces many challenges. One of them would be meeting DawnClan warrior Shadowheart. Join Sunpelt as he chooses between his love or his own Clan.


**AN: I replaced this chapter with an edited version, since I spotted a few typos and grammar mistakes and I just added a few things.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.**

**Credit to Mbak Sanca for betaing this for me.**

_ Sunhigh. Sunhigh. Sunhigh._

Those words kept repeating in Sunkit's mind. Today was the day he was going to be apprenticed. It was still dawn, and sunhigh was taking forever to come. His littermates, Flintkit and Pebblekit, were playing "Attack DawnClan" at the nursery entrance. Sunkit was still sitting next to his mother Hazelbreeze, who was still asleep.

Finally sunhigh came. AquaClan's current leader – Creekstar – jumped up a branch on the Hightree. "Let all cats old enough to swim across a river gather here beneath the Hightree for a Clan meeting!" He called out. Flintkit and Pebblekit happily padded out of the nursery. Sunkit caught up with his littermates. Hazelbreeze awoke and walked out of the nursery to join the moment her kits will be apprenticed.

The four cats found a spot to sit down in front of the other cats. "Flintkit, Pebblekit!" Hazelbreeze whispered, "your pelts are so ruffled and messy. Groom yourselves quickly!" The two kits obeyed their mother. Sunkit had already washed his pelt a few moments before coming out of the nursery.

"Today we will have three new apprentices," Creekstar began, "Sunkit, Flintkit and Pebblekit, from this day forward until you have received your warrior names, you will be known as Sunpaw, Flintpaw and Pebblepaw." Flintpaw puffed out his chest proudly. Pebblepaw's eyes were widened with excitement, whilst Sunpaw was flicking his tail excitedly.

"Lilyclaw," Creekstar continued, "you are a brave, young warrior. Rainbreeze has taught you excellent skills; I hope you will pass down all you know to Sunpaw." Sunpaw touched noses with his new mentor. "I will teach you all I know," Lilyclaw promised.

"Ravenfeather," Creekstar jumped up one more branch, "You have shown that you are worthy enough to have your first apprentice. I hope you will pass down everything Blueclaw taught you to Pebblepaw."

Ravenfeather touched noses with his apprentice. "And finally, Dapplefur, I hope you will teach what Oakflight taught you to Flintpaw."

After Flintpaw and Dapplefur touched noses, the ceremony was over. Creekstar jumped off the Hightree to share tongues with Watertail, the deputy. Lilyclaw nudged Sunpaw slightly. "Let's go on a tour to see the territory," she suggested. Sunpaw nodded in agreement. "Are you going on a tour, too?" he asked Flintpaw and Pebblepaw. Ravenfeather was the one to answer. "Yes – we all are."

"Come on, then." Lilyclaw meowed, flicking her tail. Sunpaw followed her out of the camp entrance, which was made of thick brambles, followed by Ravenfeather, Dapplefur, Flintpaw and Pebblepaw. The six cats walked toward a nearby stream. "This is where we will learn how to swim," she told, "Be careful, though. Mossleaf's lair is down there." She pointed to a swamp not far from the stream. The water in the swamp was green and tainted.

Sunpaw had heard tales and stories of Mossleaf from the elders. If a cat goes too far down in the swamp, they will feel a grip on one of their paws or tail, and will be pulled down to the depths of the swamp – and they are never to be seen again.

"Let's go somewhere else," Lilyclaw meowed. The six cats went toward a sparse forest with tall thin trees. "This is Thinbirch," Ravenfeather explained, "There's a lot of birch trees here, and prey."

Sunpaw turned to Lilyclaw. "Are we going to hunt?" Sunpaw asked impatiently. Lilyclaw shook her head. "We will learn tomorrow." She promised. Sunpaw couldn't wait to catch his first fresh-kill.

The six cats continued to another place. Golden light, brighter than Sunpaw's fur, shone through the branches of the sparse forest. The soft grass made no noise beneath the ginger apprentice's paws. Shadows fell across the forest from the tall, thin trees. The light was so bright, Sunpaw's eyes hurt when he looked at the source of it – the sun, his namesake.

"This is Suntrees," Dapplefur explained, "you could probably see why we call it Suntrees."

"Let's go to Waterhearts." Lilyclaw suggested.

The cats passed through a rocky path through a sparse forest. On one side was a small mossy slope with some trees. Tall, thin trees were scattered besides the path. Then they passed a stream cut downwards, forming a small waterfall. Moss-covered rocks surrounded the stream. In the background, Sunpaw could see another mossy waterfall.

"This is Waterhearts, a group of waterfalls," Ravenfeather murmured. Sunpaw thought the view was beautiful. "The fish here are plenty – a good place to learn, eh?" Ravenfeather nudged Pebblepaw slightly. She nodded cheerfully. Sunpaw could tell the pale cream she-cat was excited to learn how to catch fish – but they had no time for that right now. The cats then left Waterhearts and followed a dirt path, surrounded by tall grass on each side. A few moments later, they reached a grove.

"The Grovebelongs to us," Dapplefur explained, glancing at the sunny grove. The dirt on the ground was dry, yet soft. The small, oval grove was lined with sand. There were some occasional patches of grass. Several trees were scattered around the grove. A single large oak was in the middle. Sunpaw could see the occasional boulder in the Grove. "But DawnClan seems to want it for themselves."

Sunpaw stifled a low growl. He had always felt a bit of hatred toward DawnClan. He heard from many warriors in AquaClan that they recently had a battle against DawnClan – AquaClan was fighting to claim the Grove as their own territory, and not DawnClan's – their purpose on fighting was the same.

"What do you smell?" Asked Lilyclaw. Sunpaw sniffed the air. "Yuck! Smells like stinky rocks!" he exclaimed.

Lilyclaw chuckled. "That's DawnClan you smell," she told him, "It's important to know where their borders are – if you cross it into their territory, well, you'd be in huge trouble."

The tour had already ended now, and it was time to get back home. "Let's take the route through Suntrees," Lilyclaw suggested, "we can get to camp faster through Suntrees." The cats went through a hard, unexplainably moist path through a denser part of the forest. There was a large log across the path that Sunpaw had to scramble over. He occasionally had to watch out for the occasional mossy stone.

Eventually the six cats ended up in front of the entrance, entering the bramble tunnel. Ravenfeather and Dapplefur both told their apprentices to fetch some moss before eating.

"Now," Lilyclaw told Sunpaw, "go get some mouse-bile from Rosepaw or Morningheart and treat the elders' ticks." Sunpaw nodded and headed towards the medicine den. His older sister Rosepaw was mixing a poultice. He guessed that Morningheart was getting some more herbs.

"Hey there," Rosepaw greeted. "What do you need?" Sunpaw blinked. "Lilyclaw told me to get some mouse-bile," he told. Rosepaw looked around the den. Then she took some mouse-bile wrapped in moss. "Make sure to wash your paws by the stream after using it. _Don't _lick your paws!" she warned before giving the mouse-bile to Sunpaw. The ginger apprentice nodded and left the medicine den.

Sunpaw could barely stand the smell. He tried to point the mouse-bile away from him as he rushed to the elder's den.

The current elders were Fireflame and Thrushflight. Thrushflight was sleeping, while Fireflame was grooming herself. "Ah," she said as she stopped licking her flank, "I've got a tick on my back, and I can't get it out." Sunpaw nodded, and searched around Fireflame's orange pelt until he found a tick. It was big, fat and ugly. He rubbed some mouse-bile on it and it fell off. "You can go now, thank you." Fireflame meowed cheerfully, "and don't forget to tell your sister to get us some new moss."

"Yes, Fireflame. Goodbye!" he said to Fireflame before leaving the elders den. After eating a small fish from the fresh-kill pile, he went over to the apprentices' den to sleep. He was not sleeping in the nursery tonight.


End file.
